


you're my medicine

by gaywillbyers



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Lowercase, M/M, Mutual Pining, Richie's parents are assholes, Soft Richie Tozier, not a texting fic but there are messages at the beginning, rated teen bc mentions and evidence of physical abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-24 23:18:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16185278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaywillbyers/pseuds/gaywillbyers
Summary: [trashmouth]: can i come over[lovser]: Richie jesus christwhy do you need to come over at 3am[trashmouth]: uhit's kinda a funny story actually! i'll tell you all about it when i get to ur house[lovser]: tell me when it's not the middle of the nightwe have to get up in like 3 hoursjust try to go to bed ok?[trashmouth]: that's kinda the problem herei don't really have a bed right nowor a houseor parents[lovser]: you fucking what(or, richie gets kicked out and seeks comfort in eddie in the middle of the night ft. richie's overactive internal dialogue and a very concerned eddie kaspbrak)





	you're my medicine

**Author's Note:**

> ok so i've written stuff but i've never posted it anywhere before?? so i just wanna preface this by saying Thank u for reading my first published thing and i hope u enjoy!! and i'm not 100% sure how this site works yet so hopefully i'll get the hang of it soon!! i might follow this up w/ a part 2 if it's well received ?? so look forward to that perhaps?? any comments on the work are cool w me tell me if u liked it or u hated it id genuinely love to know how u feel  
> (also sorry for the lowercase, i didn't think i was gonna post this anywhere so i didn't use any caps and i didn't feel like going back and correcting it haha)  
> nov 10 edit: Hi im just now going back through this and fixing a few grammatical errors and typos and sentences that didn't exactly make sense!! thx for sticking around i'm currently working on a part 2 for this!

[trashmouth]: eds  
pls be awake  
eddie  
sweetheart  
angel  
light of my life  
please eddie

[lovser]: richie it's fucking 3am  
what's going on

[trashmouth]: can i come over

[lovser]: Richie jesus christ  
why do you need to come over at 3am

[trashmouth]: uh  
it's kinda a funny story actually! i'll tell you all about it when i get to ur house

[lovser]: tell me when it's not the middle of the night  
we have to get up in like 3 hours  
just try to go to bed ok?

[trashmouth]: that's kinda the problem here  
i don't really have a bed right now  
or a house  
or parents

[lovser]: you fucking what

[trashmouth]: that's the funny story! i was gonna wait to tell u in person but since ur such a cutie i'll tell u now  
i got kicked out and my parents pretty much disowned me  
please let me sleep on your floor

[lovser]: get to my house right now  
where are you? are you okay??

[trashmouth]: i'm almost to u already i started walking before you said yes bc i was hoping u would say yes anyway  
i'm doin just peachy keen baby how r u

[lovser]: please be careful coming through the window this time i don't want you to fall again

[trashmouth]: it might take me a second anyway i'm actually not doing so hot rn

as soon as richie comes in through the window, eddie rushes over to him and crushes him in a hug. he's breathing heavily and holding onto richie for dear life. richie wraps his arms back over eddie, tucking his head underneath his own chin.

"woah there, eds, save some of this for mrs. k," he quips. eddie pulls off of him and takes in richie's state.

he's definitely a sight for sore eyes. his lip is busted and blood is smeared over his mouth. the bridge of his nose is bruised and bleeding, along with his left cheek, dangerously close to his eye. his glasses seemed to have taken the most damage. one lens is completely cracked.

"fucking hell," eddie whispers. "what happened to you?"

"got into a fight defending your honor, of course. you should see the other guy." richie avoids eddie's eyes as he scans up and down his body. he freezes as eddie gently cups his face.

"hey, no more jokes, alright?" eddie says. "i'm gonna clean you up and you're gonna tell me what's going on. i have some of your clothes that you've left here, so if you wanna change into something comfier while i'm getting my supplies, go ahead."

"thanks, eds."

richie smiles weakly as he watches eddie leave and heads over to his closet. he kicks off his shoes and peels his skinny jeans off for a pair of flannel pajama pants he'd left behind a few weeks ago. he pulls his shirt off over his head but stops when he sees himself in eddie's bedroom mirror. _fuck_ , eddie was gonna be so pissed at him. his ribs were already bruised and one side was bleeding.

" _holy shit!_ " eddie exclaims as he enters again, suddenly forgetting his mother sleeping downstairs. "who did this to you?"

no more jokes, richie remembers. he throws his shirt on the bed and lets out a shaky breath.

"my mom, mostly," he says. "my dad did, too, but my mom's the one who really went for it. basically, if your son only hangs out with boys and paints his nails, he has to be a fag, and the toziers don't want their picture fucking perfect family to be ruined. you know, with them being abusive alcoholics and all. i was sick of her pretending i could be fucking cured or some shit, so i told her to fuck off. she started blaming you for me being a fag, so naturally i started yelling back. she beat the shit out of me, told me that she doesn't have a son anymore and to never come back. she's a small lady, but damn, can she pack a punch!"

eddie looks so god damn heartbroken and richie can't even look at his face anymore.

"don't give me that," he tries. "we all knew it was gonna happen eventually, they've been looking for a reason to kick me out for years now. you were gonna clean me up, yeah?"

eddie rubs at his eyes and mumbles a "yeah" before taking richie by the hand and leading him to the bathroom. he makes richie, with his unnaturally long legs, sit on the toilet so he can reach his face better.

"this is gonna burn, but not for too long," he says, dampening a cotton ball with peroxide. richie knows hydrogen peroxide very well. they've been in this exact situation many times before, richie sitting in his bathroom and eddie patching him up, but eddie still warns him about the burning every time.

he gently takes off richie's glasses, despite them being cracked, and places them on the counter before starting to dab his face with the cotton. richie's face scrunches up at the pain, but he knows better than to move while eddie's doing his thing.

there are things richie notices about people that someone else might not necessarily see at first glance. it's things like the way he catches stan staring at bill in class when he thinks no one can see him, and how beverly unconsciously runs her hands through her hair whenever she gets nervous. right now, it's how eddie bites his lip when he concentrates really hard and how he's just barely cupping the side of his face with his palm. he's always gentle with richie. even when he's telling him "beep beep, richie" and "shut up, asshole", there's no real venom behind his words. richie knows he's eddie's soft spot.

and eddie is his, too.

richie is snapped out of his thoughts when eddie tilts his chin up with his thumb. for once, he's silent. he can see the blush across eddie's cheeks as he puts the medicine on richie's lips. it's a weird feeling, he thinks, having someone stare at and touch your lips in a non-intimate way.

"can you lift your arms for me?" eddie says. "you might wanna see a doctor, just to make sure none of your ribs were cracked."

"i'm seein' you right now, dr. k," richie says fondly as he complies. eddie's focus wavers for just a second before he goes back to work. he's started bandaging richie's sides now.

there's a certain softness in these times that richie picks up on. eddie won't snap at him or tell him to shut up, and richie's humor is toned down (even if it's only somewhat). it happens in stressful situations (that usually are caused by richie getting hurt). both of them take such comfort in each other's presence, and just seeing each other can turn a whole day around. richie thinks about how he'd take a million beatings if it meant he could just listen to eddie's soft voice at the end of the day. he knows eddie would scold him for the thought.

"alright, i think we're done here."

richie takes a look at himself in the mirror. he's not exactly the prettiest sight, but at least he's not bleeding anymore. if it weren't for the fact this his mother did this to him, he might think he looked badass, but instead he keeps his glasses off and turns away from the mirror.

eddie takes richie by the hand again and pulls him back to the bedroom. "you can take the bed. i'll get my sleeping bag out-"

"hey, i appreciate it, but i really don't wanna rob you of your bed."

eddie frowns and richie's breath catches in his throat. _fuck, he's so cute_.

"well, i'm not letting you sleep on the floor," he mumbles.

"we could just, you know, _both_ sleep in your bed. we did it as kids, it's not really any different now."

which is a flat lie, because richie knows it _is_ different now, and he'll probably combust if he gets that close to eddie, but that doesn't stop his mouth from working faster than his brain. he watches eddie's expression relax before he says, "alright, as long as you don't steal all the covers from me like you used to."

"ah, you know me too well, babe, but i absolutely cannot agree to those terms. you're just gonna have to freeze." eddie shoots him a glare. "kidding! kidding, you can have them all. promise."

richie climbs into the bed, gritting his teeth through the pain. he usually sleeps on his side, but it seems like that's not an option tonight. eddie props him up against a few extra pillows.

"you're in a lot of pain," eddie says.

"you're telling me. wanna kiss it better?"

he couldn't predict in a million years that eddie would actually follow through. eddie never indulges him in his jokes, and nothing could have prepared him for the delicate brush of eddie's lips on his cheek, right on his bruises. and when eddie dips down, pressing the lightest kisses on richie's bandaged side, his hand resting on his stomach, richie thinks he's going to pass out right then and there. it's at a strange angle and he can hear every shaky breath from the both of them, but he wouldn't trade it for anything else.

"i- you didn't have to-"

eddie is staring at his lips again, like he'd done before in the bathroom, but it's different now. his own lips are parted and his eyes are desperate and darker. not like before.

"can i kiss you?"

he says it so quietly that richie thinks for a second that he didn't even hear it, that he made it up. he nods wordlessly, unable to do anything else.

the kiss tastes like metal and vaseline more than anything else, but it's the best fucking kiss richie's ever had. this feels right, this feels fucking incredible, and he's wanted to do this for so god damn long. eddie has the smoothest lips in the entire world, he's convinced, and he's so warm and perfect, and richie thinks he could actually cry-

"richie." eddie is breathless and for a split second richie thinks he might need to grab his inhaler.

"yes?"

"i really, really like you, and seeing you like this makes me so angry because you don't fucking deserve it. you're so amazing, and you're so valuable to me and everyone else. i hate that your parents are such assholes because you're so important to all of us, rich, nothing could replace you."

"i fucking love you, kaspbrak," richie's voice breaks, speaking almost directly into eddie's mouth.

it's unclear who leans in first, but richie can't find it in himself to care. his hands instinctively reach up to hold eddie's face and eddie seems to get the same idea, running his fingers through richie's already messy hair. the kiss turns urgent and needy, and somehow, eddie manages not to hurt richie's split lip while whispering 'i love you's between kisses.

"you taste like medicine," richie breathes out once they break apart. he notices how red and swollen eddie's lips are now.

"yeah, well, you taste like blood," eddie counters with a laugh. he places another kiss on richie's open mouth before moving to his side of the bed and getting under the covers.

richie pulls the string on eddie's desk lamp as eddie shifts closer to him in the dark. he tries to get as close as possible without hurting him. he settles for cuddling up to richie's side and laying his arm over his chest.

"we can skip school tomorrow," eddie says. "i'll sneak you out in the morning, i don't care, i just wanna see you. we'll figure something out. you can't go back there."

"i wish i could stay with you," richie replies. he can barely keep his eyes open. "as much as mrs. k loves my presence, i don't think she'd be too happy."

"i wish you could, too."

richie falls asleep soon after eddie, his mind drifting with thoughts of the doe eyes and the soft lips of the boy breathing steadily in his arms, avoiding the reality next morning would bring for as long as he could.


End file.
